Bob Moog on the Minimoog
Forum rules
READ: VSE Board-Wide Rules and Guidelines
READ: VSE Board-Wide Rules and Guidelines
-
- Supporting Member!
- Posts: 81
- Joined: Thu Dec 11, 2008 1:36 am
- Gear: PEK, Voyager, JP-8080, Sirius, Radias, Lead 2, X-Station25, KS-Rack, Z1, MPC4000
Bob Moog on the Minimoog
I was watching videos of Bob Moog around the web, and it got me thinking about the man himself. I would argue that the instrument he is most known for is the Minimoog, which is, of course a small sampling of his larger and more sophisitcated creations. As an engineer, I wonder if he took great pride in the Minmoog, or did he secretly resent that it was not some more sophisticated creation that took the spotlight?
I am an engineer by training, and I tend to value my work by how much of a miraculous feet of technical achievement it is. Whereas, to users and managers, it could be the simplest thing that was just right that matters. I wonder if Bob went with the flow and enjoyed the success of this instrument, or did he in ways try to play it down and always have an eye on the next technical miracle?
I am an engineer by training, and I tend to value my work by how much of a miraculous feet of technical achievement it is. Whereas, to users and managers, it could be the simplest thing that was just right that matters. I wonder if Bob went with the flow and enjoyed the success of this instrument, or did he in ways try to play it down and always have an eye on the next technical miracle?
-
- Junior Member
- Posts: 141
- Joined: Wed Feb 20, 2008 7:49 am
- Gear: Anyone want a Polivoks?
Re: Bob Moog on the Minimoog
Bill Hemsath invented the Minimoog.
Voyager XL*LittlePhatty*ElektronTrinity*ProOne*Mono/Poly*NordLead2X/3*Juno106*JX3P*JX10*JP8000*VirusKB*Blofeld*Ion*OctaveKitten*Polivoks*MS2000*AN1X*AlphaJuno1/2*ESQ1*SVC350*MG1*CS15*DX7II*etc...
-
- Active Member
- Posts: 273
- Joined: Tue Jan 29, 2008 8:27 am
Re: Bob Moog on the Minimoog
I think he prided himself mainly on this:

Because it was a breakthrough, and you see why its called a ladder

Because it was a breakthrough, and you see why its called a ladder
‹‡›
- xpander
- Synth Explorer
- Posts: 1541
- Joined: Sat Jun 02, 2007 7:15 am
- Gear: UltraProteus, Xpander, 200e, Minimoogs, Radias, Prophet VS, PolyEvolver, Arp 2600
- Location: los gatos, california
- Contact:
Re: Bob Moog on the Minimoog
well, he liked it enough to remake it. from what i've seen with different designers, the ultimate satisfaction comes from seeing any of their instruments used to create music- it doesn't matter which instrument or what type of music.synthmax wrote:As an engineer, I wonder if he took great pride in the Minimoog, or did he secretly resent that it was not some more sophisticated creation that took the spotlight?
- Dj Pound
- Junior Member
- Posts: 239
- Joined: Sat May 16, 2009 2:34 am
- Gear: Korg ESX-1
Korg EMX-1
Korg ES-1
Microkorg
Akai MPC-2000XL
Boss Br-532
Re: Bob Moog on the Minimoog
What a brilliant mind.
....Sometimes i ponder what the electronic music world would of been like had Bob not been born?
....Sometimes i ponder what the electronic music world would of been like had Bob not been born?
Korg ESX-1
Korg EMX-1
Korg ES-1
Microkorg
Akai MPC-2000XL
Boss Br-532
Korg EMX-1
Korg ES-1
Microkorg
Akai MPC-2000XL
Boss Br-532
- seamonkey
- Senior Member
- Posts: 959
- Joined: Sun Nov 25, 2007 6:09 pm
- Real name: Rick
- Location: Sunny Florida
Re: Bob Moog on the Minimoog
When I purchased my Andromeda, I was given a copy of the Bob Moog DVD. It's a wonderful look into the man who gave us the Moog products. It's not an in-depth look into the history of Bob but it's nice spending some time with him and listen to his stories.
Moog Voyager Roland D50 Ensoniq VFX-SD, Korg Wavestation Emulator II, Emax SE Plus, Korg King Korg, Korg Arp Odyssey(Whiteface), Minibrute, Takamine Acoustic Peavey Falcon electric
- Christopher Winkels
- Supporting Member!
- Posts: 690
- Joined: Wed Sep 17, 2008 12:52 am
- Location: Burlington, Canada, eh.
Re: Bob Moog on the Minimoog
It's a good question.
I think if one creates anything that has resonance (pardon the choice of word, but it's appropriate) with other people - where those people use, value and indeed venerate the object in question it's is bound to be a source of price.
Sure, Bob Moog might have been more personally proud of the large modular systems he engineered, but that would likely have been tempered by the realization that those were instruments costing many multiples of what a Mini did. By dint of that alone they were not going to end up in the hands of many players. Add to that the issue of size, ergonomics, portability (always an issue for live musicians) and relative robustness and it's easy to see why the Mini became what he was most closely associated with.
Engineers too sometimes lose sight of the fact that the best engineering solution isn't always the ideal product for the public at large.
I think if one creates anything that has resonance (pardon the choice of word, but it's appropriate) with other people - where those people use, value and indeed venerate the object in question it's is bound to be a source of price.
Sure, Bob Moog might have been more personally proud of the large modular systems he engineered, but that would likely have been tempered by the realization that those were instruments costing many multiples of what a Mini did. By dint of that alone they were not going to end up in the hands of many players. Add to that the issue of size, ergonomics, portability (always an issue for live musicians) and relative robustness and it's easy to see why the Mini became what he was most closely associated with.
Engineers too sometimes lose sight of the fact that the best engineering solution isn't always the ideal product for the public at large.
Re: Bob Moog on the Minimoog
Since we still had Don Buchla, Dave Smith, Alan Pearlman et al - maybe not that differentDj Pound wrote:....Sometimes i ponder what the electronic music world would of been like had Bob not been born?

"Part of an instrument is what it can do, and part of it is what you do to it" - Suzanne Ciani, 197x.
Re: Bob Moog on the Minimoog
The interesting thing about the minimoog and bob is that it was made and created not by him, and against his direct orders. I think the guy Murderhausen mentions is the guy who slapped together a small portable system out of factory scraps, the short keyboard was from a keyboard that snapped in two and couldn't be used for the modulars, etc. When they showed it to bob and asked if they could make a few to see if musicians liked it he trashed the idea and said no... then he went on vacation and they did it anyway, and essentially saved the company.
I think the story is at the moogarchives site. Pretty amazing. Still Bob's circuits, but it's funny how he gets the credit for an instrument he didn't create and also tried to quash!
I think the story is at the moogarchives site. Pretty amazing. Still Bob's circuits, but it's funny how he gets the credit for an instrument he didn't create and also tried to quash!
Re: Bob Moog on the Minimoog
If you follow the story of the Minimoog from an article at Sound on Sound, it says the actual idea came from Gene Zumcheck, a Moog employee, who built his own portable monosynth called the Sonic 5. He showed it to Bob and the team, Bob didn't like the idea, and the rest of the team that included Hemsath put together the first Mini based on Zumcheck's Sonic 5 design. Soon afterward Moog fired Zumcheck and actually kept his schematics for the Sonic 5, made a few changes, and put out the Sonic 6 based on that.
Not to take away from Bob Moog, I love the guy, love the movie, and everything about him. These were simply the company politics and stuff from the day, these things happen.
Not to take away from Bob Moog, I love the guy, love the movie, and everything about him. These were simply the company politics and stuff from the day, these things happen.
Kurzweil PC3, Yamaha MOX8, Korg Z1, Alesis Ion, Alesis QS8.2, Kawai K3M
- Bitexion
- Synth Explorer
- Posts: 4230
- Joined: Fri Apr 15, 2005 7:43 pm
- Gear: Alesis Andromeda A6
Roland D-50
Creamware Minimax
Yamaha DX7s
Analogue Systems modular
Ensoniq SQ-80
Waldorf Blofeld - Location: Drammen, Norway
Re: Bob Moog on the Minimoog
I think the synth as we know it would have been "invented" no matter what. Just like someone else would invent the telephone if Bell didn't patent it first. I mean, the theory about sound waves and synthesis has been around since the 1800's.
-
- Junior Member
- Posts: 141
- Joined: Wed Feb 20, 2008 7:49 am
- Gear: Anyone want a Polivoks?
Re: Bob Moog on the Minimoog
I don't know about Gene Zumchek (or whatever that name was, should have quoted), but if he did invent the Sonic V, he would have been a Musonics employee while doing so. The Sonic V was pioneered by Bill Waytena who couldn't sell the thing without a name, and ended up buying Moog for nothing more than their debts of $250,000. Waytena was a venture capitalist and not an engineer, though, so I would believe that someone else designed his first synth and remained under his employ when Moog was taken over by Musonics.
Voyager XL*LittlePhatty*ElektronTrinity*ProOne*Mono/Poly*NordLead2X/3*Juno106*JX3P*JX10*JP8000*VirusKB*Blofeld*Ion*OctaveKitten*Polivoks*MS2000*AN1X*AlphaJuno1/2*ESQ1*SVC350*MG1*CS15*DX7II*etc...
-
- Junior Member
- Posts: 141
- Joined: Wed Feb 20, 2008 7:49 am
- Gear: Anyone want a Polivoks?
Re: Bob Moog on the Minimoog
I agree that surely someone would have created a portable, performance-oriented synthesizer had Moog's company not done so first.Bitexion wrote:I think the synth as we know it would have been "invented" no matter what. Just like someone else would invent the telephone if Bell didn't patent it first. I mean, the theory about sound waves and synthesis has been around since the 1800's.
Voyager XL*LittlePhatty*ElektronTrinity*ProOne*Mono/Poly*NordLead2X/3*Juno106*JX3P*JX10*JP8000*VirusKB*Blofeld*Ion*OctaveKitten*Polivoks*MS2000*AN1X*AlphaJuno1/2*ESQ1*SVC350*MG1*CS15*DX7II*etc...
Re: Bob Moog on the Minimoog
Here's an interesting story on the birth of the Minimoog:
http://fiftieth.shotnews.net/NSF/pinch.pdf
According to this writing it'd appear that the idea for a portable performance-oriented synthesizer came from Bill Hemsath. Co-designers were Jim Scott, Chad Hunt and Bob Moog.
Micke
http://fiftieth.shotnews.net/NSF/pinch.pdf
According to this writing it'd appear that the idea for a portable performance-oriented synthesizer came from Bill Hemsath. Co-designers were Jim Scott, Chad Hunt and Bob Moog.
Micke
"The (Yamaha) CS-80 is a step ahead in keyboard control, and a generation behind in digital control" -- Dan Wyman, Jan 1979
- OriginalJambo
- Synth Explorer
- Posts: 2560
- Joined: Sun Jul 09, 2006 12:04 am
- Gear: Check my sig
- Location: Scotland, United Kingdom
Re: Bob Moog on the Minimoog
To be honest from what I've read in Analog Days and seen in the Moog documentary it seems quite apparent that Bob was immensely fond of the Theremin, possibly more so than his own creation.